Brake release.



A. A. ST. CLAIR. BRAKE RELEASE. APPLIQATION FILED Nov. 2e, 1901.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

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1HE NoRRls PETERS co., wawrlarow, n. c.

. UNITED sTATEs PATENT ermee.

AUGUSTUS A. ST. CLAIR,` OF INDIANAPOLIS', INDIANA, ASSIGNORTO ST. CLAIR AIR BRAKE ,'OOMPANY, `OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

BRAKERELEASE.

specification or Letters Patent Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

Application filed NovemberpZG, '.1967'.l Serial No. 403,957.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known 'that I, AUGUsTUs A, ST. CLAIR, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county ofMarionand VState of Indiana, have invented certain neviT ingithis force by air pressure normally maintained from the train line ybut capable of being transferred, in part, so as to assist the spring in the applicationof the brakes.4 In

operation of suchV an a paratus, if a car equipped therewith be p aced upon a siding and the air ressure Withdrawn, vthesprings will set the rakes and before the car 'can be moved the brakes must be either released by normal airV pressure or Withdrawn byhandoperated means, this being the reverse ofthe ordinary hand operated means now fcom- Vmonly provided lon cars equipped With the present standard brakes. n

With thepresent standard airbrakes, such Y. for instance `as theWestinghouse and New York brakes, brakemen have grown 'familiar with the operation of ""bleeding, whichl means thevvithdrawal of airfpressure fromf the auxiliary reservoir to permit the releaseV of brakes which have been set and, in Yorder that my improved brake mechanism, ofthe type illustrated in the above mentioned patent, may be operated in conjunction with air brakesnowlcommonly in use, by methods and operations practicallyidentical with the methods and operations used in' connection withv the present standard brakes,

the object of my present invention is to provide means by which the spring pressure may be'withdrawn from the brakes thus released, the said apparatuslbeing `of such character that `mechanism simulating the ordinary bleeding mechanism` `of 'standard ,Y air brakes is provided for its operation to release position and theconstruction also being suchthat, when air is applied tothe brakeoperating piston', the parts `will' be automatically reassembled intonormal relations. The `accompanying drawings illustrate 'l invention.' Y Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my improvement applied'to-a brake cylinder ofthe type Valready mentioned, the said brake cylinder b eing shown in partial vertical section; Fig. 2 isa similar vlew of my present improveymentin brake-released position; and Fig. 3 aplanof the parts shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the brake cylinder, 11 the piston, 12 the piston rod, 13 the springsand 14 the rod extending to the brakes. J Instead of making a positive connection between the piston rod 12 and the brake rod 14, as inmy before-mentioned patent,I secure, to rod 12, a head 15 having a depending finger 16.: Pivoted to rod 15-at 17 is a bell-crank-lever 18 having a short .horizontalarm and a longer depending arm in which is formed a substantially vertical slot 19, the upper end of which lies below `pivot l17 a sufficientdistance to permit the pivot pin 20 (which is adapted to traverse theslot 19) to lie below pivot 17 a short distance, in actualpractice about one-quarter of an inch. Pivoted to pin 20 is a head 21 held in position by a flexible connection 25 Whichconnects oneend of said pawl with arm 16 and said pawl is provided with a finger 26 adapted to be brought into engagement with the depending arm of lever 18 in the direction opposite to that which the main portion of the pawl acts upon said arm. Secured to arm 16 is a stop 27 which limits the movement of lever 18 in one direction on `head-15. Attached to the connection 25 at a point intermediate its length isa rod 28 which is extended outward to the edge of the car and at its outer end is provided with a f about one-quarter of an inch lower than the center of pin 17, and finger 23 of the long arm 4of'leverV 18 lies behind pawl 24, so that rods lower end of arm 16. Pawl 24 is normally 12 and 14 are connected rigidly together. 1f the air pressure be withdrawn from cylinder 10 however, spring 13 tends to draw the entire mechanism toward the cylinder and set the brakes by a pull upon rod 12. 1n order to release the brakes the operator pulls upon rod 28 so as to draw pawl 24 away from iinger 23 and cause linger 26 of pawl 24 to engage the long arm of lever' 18 and swing the same outward so that it will be given a start on its movement upward, whereupon the pull eX- erted by spring 13 will draw rod 12 and head 15 to the right and the lever 18 will swing to the position shown in Fig. 2 without exerting a pull upon the rod 14. As soon as air pressure is restored in the right hand end of cylinder 10, however, piston 11 will move to the left, carrying head 15 with it, and causing the long arm of lever 18 to engage the cam surface 22 and be thrown downward by it until the linger 23 passes in behind pawl 24, so that the parts are thus automatically restored to normal.

1 claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a piston rod, a brake rod, an intermediate extensible normally retained connection between said rods, and means dependent upon the bringing together ofthe rods for automatically restoring the connection to normal.

2. The combination of a piston rod, a brake rod, an intermediate eXtensible normally retained connection between said rods, means dependent upon ,the bringing together of the rods for automatically restoring the connection to normal, and means for normally holding the connection in normal relationship.

3. rllhe combination of a brake rod, a piston rod, a pivoted member carried by one of said rods, a sliding connection between said member and the other rod, and means carried by said other rod for engaging the ivoted member to restore the pivoted memer to normal by bringing the two rods together.

4. The combination of a brake rod, a piston rod, a pivoted member carried by one of said rods, a sliding connection between said member and the other rod, means carried by said other rod for engaging the pivoted member to restore the pivoted member to normal by bringing the two rods together, and means for normally holding the pivoted member in normal position.

5. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods, a sliding connection between the other arm of said lever and the other rod, and means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together.

6. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-cranlr-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally depending, and a sliding connection between the depending arm of said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying above the pivotal connection of the lever and iirst rod when the lever is in normal position.

7. The combination of' a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-cranlr-lever with one arm pivoted to one of' said rods and having its other arm normally depending, a sliding connection between the depending arm oi said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying above the pivotal connection oi the lever and iirst rod when the lever is in normal position, and means for swinging the lever upwards.

8. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm pivoted to one of' said rods and having its other arm normally de aending, a sliding connection between the depending arm of' said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying above the pivotal connection of the lever and lirst rod when the lever is in normal position, and means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together.

9. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-cranli-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally depending, a sliding connection between the depending arm of said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying above the pivotal connection of' the lever and first rod when the lever is in normal position, means for swinging the lever upwards, and means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together.

10. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-cranl-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods, a sliding connection between the other arm of said lever and the other rod, means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together, and means for locking the lever in normal aosition.

11. rl`he combination of a brale-rod, a piston rod, a bell-cranlr-lever with one arm pivoted. to one of said rods and having its other arm normally depending, a sliding connection between the depending arm of said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying below the pivotal connection of thc lever and lirst rod when the lever is in normal position, and means for locking the lever in normal position.

12. The combination oi a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally depending, a sliding connection between the depending arm ci said lever and the other rod said sliding connection lying below the Jivotal connection of the lever an( iirst rod w en the lever is in normal position, means for swinging the lever upwards, and means for locking the lever in normal position.

13. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally de ending, a sliding connection between the ependin arm of said lever and the other rod said s iding connection lying below the pivotal connection of the lever and first rod when the lever is in normal position, means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together, and means for locking the lever in normal position.

14. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm pivoted to one of said rods and having'itsother arm normally depending, .a sliding connection between the dependin arm of said lever and the other rod said sii member provided with means for engaging and normally holding said lever, and. also with means for starting said lever toward abnormal position.

16. The combinatlon of a brake-rod,a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm pivding connection, lying below the pivotal connection of the lever oted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally de ending, a sliding connection between the ependin arm of said lever yand theV other rod said siding connection lying below `the pivotal connection of the lever and first rod when the lever is in normal position, a movable lock-member rovided with means for yengaging and norma ly holdingsaid lever, and also with means for startingsaid lever toward abnormal position.

. 17. The combination of a brake-rod, a piston rod, a bell-crank-lever with one arm piv- `oted to one of said rods and having its other arm normally depending, a sliding connection betweenthe epending arm of said lever ,and the other rod said sliding connection lying below the pivotal connection of the lever1 and first rod when the lever is in normal position, means for swinging the lever upwards, means for forcing the lever down by bringing the rods together, a movable lockmember provided with means for engaging and normally holding said lever, and also with means for starting said lever toward abnormal position.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand andseal at lndianapolialndiana, this 20thA day of November, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and seven.

AGUSTUS A. sr. CLAIR. [1.. s.]

Witnesses:

FRANK'l A. FAHLE, ARTHUR -M. Hoon. 

